Davic

When the late, reluctant spring brought the first green of sprouting grasses to the meadows of the Quah-Davic, it found the red cow a mere bag of bones, indeed, but still alive, and still presenting an undaunted pair of horns to a still distrusted world.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

In the channel of the Quah-Davic rocks appeared which the old woodsman had never seen before.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

With abundant pasturage on the Quah-Davic water-meadows, they had no occasion to wander into the perils of the deep wood; and the little red cow had none of that prevision of wild mothers, which leads them to instruct their young in the two great vital points of woodcraft, -- the procuring of food and the avoiding of enemies.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

Again came autumn to the Quah-Davic, with the pale blue smoke of asters along the meadow-ledges, the pale gold glimmer of birches on the slopes, and the wax-vermilion bunches of the rowan-berries reflected in each brown pool.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

As a matter of fact, though all these woods of the Quah-Davic were populous with the furtive folk, the little red cow saw few signs of life.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

Quah-Davic, there was the stir of something unusual afoot.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

A full day's tramp back from the settlement, on the edge of a water-meadow beside the lonely Quah-Davic, stood the old woodsman's cabin.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

Indian, paddling down the Quah-Davic to the sea, caught sight of the red cow drinking by the waterside.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

The next winter was a hard one for all the beasts of the Quah-Davic; and, ere it went by, the lair under the hemlocks was surrounded by many lynx tracks.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901

Quah-Davic (there was but a single pair of panthers, indeed, within a radius of fifty miles!) that cared to investigate the fighting qualities of this keen-horned red creature with the inexplicable voice.

The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life Charles George Douglas Roberts 1901